A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires • Hacker News Board

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#61

Post by Vekz » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:40 AM UTC

um304 wrote: post #57

pauljaworski wrote: post #21

This is literally the only way I've gotten job offers. I'm a very competent programmer, but when I'm asked to solve some silly puzzle with someone staring over my shoulder, I freeze under pressure and can not think at all. Luckily not everyone thinks solving leetcode problems is a good way to hire.

Exactly my case. My startup is ending and I'm looking for work. Wonder if there's a way to look up companies that hire by giving assignments.

Your next startup could be a job board that specializes in this. I'd subscribe

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#62

Post by teen » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:40 AM UTC

Coding on a whiteboard works. There are just a lot of people who can't code, and complain & make excuses. I'm so tired of these clickbait posts.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#63

Post by lsiebert » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:45 AM UTC

Wow, so you want me to work weekends is what you are telling me.

I suppose it's nice that this is paid. A lot of companies give me HW problems... and frankly it doesn't scale.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#64

Post by teach » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:45 AM UTC

sargun wrote: post #45

How do you avoid people outsourcing their projects?

I'm a high school teacher, so my experience isn't directly relevant but I've certainly encountered my fair share of cheating.

The student that wrote the code can always explain not only how it works but why they made certain decisions along the way.

The student clueless enough to copy someone else's code usually can't even explain its function, much less explain tradeoffs.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#65

Post by peteretep » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:45 AM UTC

Looks reasonable from my experience. Don't think I'd offer money for up to two hours coding test, but I've certainly offered money for something that took a whole day before.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#66

Post by usloth_wandows » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:47 AM UTC

pauljaworski wrote: post #21

This is literally the only way I've gotten job offers. I'm a very competent programmer, but when I'm asked to solve some silly puzzle with someone staring over my shoulder, I freeze under pressure and can not think at all. Luckily not everyone thinks solving leetcode problems is a good way to hire.

If you can't code under pressure, you aren't a very competent programmer. Real world projects come with high pressure scenarios for software engineers. Code monkeys may be able to get away with low pressure, minimally impactful projects.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#67

Post by 67726e » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:48 AM UTC

usloth_wandows wrote: post #66

pauljaworski wrote: post #21

This is literally the only way I've gotten job offers. I'm a very competent programmer, but when I'm asked to solve some silly puzzle with someone staring over my shoulder, I freeze under pressure and can not think at all. Luckily not everyone thinks solving leetcode problems is a good way to hire.

If you can't code under pressure, you aren't a very competent programmer. Real world projects come with high pressure scenarios for software engineers. Code monkeys may be able to get away with low pressure, minimally impactful projects.

I can't code with people staring at me, talking to me, asking me questions. If you can more power to you, but if that reflects the nature of the job then they can take that one and shove it. It simply doesn't reflect reality.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#68

Post by honkhonkpants » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:49 AM UTC

No mention of the tax implications? Paying every candidate sounds like a wonderful way to increase paperwork.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#69

Post by pmiller2 » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:51 AM UTC

There's an inexplicably [dead] comment in reply to your comment here. I'm reposting it so more people can see it.

@throwaway4job, you appear to be hellbanned for no reason I can discern. :(

> throwaway4job 8 minutes ago [dead] [-]

> This isn't a viable approach for much of the hiring pool, as a majority of working engineers have contracts which explicitly forbid work for contract for other employers. As such, if you hire any of those, you're hiring somebody with a proven willingness to ignore their contract, which is a strong anti-pattern.

Re: A Method I’ve Used to Eliminate Bad Tech Hires

#70

Post by zzzcpan » Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 1:52 AM UTC

um304 wrote: post #57

pauljaworski wrote: post #21

This is literally the only way I've gotten job offers. I'm a very competent programmer, but when I'm asked to solve some silly puzzle with someone staring over my shoulder, I freeze under pressure and can not think at all. Luckily not everyone thinks solving leetcode problems is a good way to hire.

Exactly my case. My startup is ending and I'm looking for work. Wonder if there's a way to look up companies that hire by giving assignments.

Be persuasive, ask for an assignment. Everything is negotiable.